Filling Fresh Water Tank ....

SharpPI · 11-08-2016, 10:28 AM

We have a Forester 3011 DS and during Matthew we spent 5 days front yard camping waiting for the power to be turned back on in our community. We live in the country and use a well for water so no power no water. After a few days I needed to fill my fresh water tank, mostly because it was close to empty when we started out on this adventure.

I had several 7 gallon fresh water containers on the farm that were already full of water, however when I tried to pour them in my fresh water tank, the water always came back on my and not down to the holding tank. I tried attaching a piece of hose to my funnel but nothing worked, the water always came back out the filler hole.

Since then I have noticed that you have to use a water source that has pressure to get the water to travel down the filler house to the tank.

Is this normal? How do you fill your tank when boon-docking? Do I need to get my dealer to check this out?

Thanks in advance,

deanjp1 · 11-09-2016, 02:31 PM

My 2016 3011, needed to be level.
Also, under the bed, the hose to the tank, looped upward, cable tied to a piece of wood. I cut the cable tie holding the fill tube ( so the hose slopes downward), And it has been 100% better.

RamblerGuy · 11-09-2016, 04:57 PM

Some have had a problem filling the fresh water tank because the vent tubing was sagging and trapping water so the air could not get out. I don't know your layout but on our 3100 the fresh water tank is under the bed.

bob dirt · 11-09-2016, 05:01 PM

Dumb question...are you sure you're using the correct connection? The one for the tank (dry camping) is gravity fed and the "hook-up" one needs pressure.

Gidyupgo · 11-09-2016, 07:02 PM

Ran into the "water coming back up the pipe during fill" problem. Wrote ours up as difficult to fill for a warranty visit. Dealer signed off as normal. I ended up making an adapter with a 3ft piece of hose with a female connector that I connected to the fill hose and pushed deep into the fill port to get it to work. Never tried to gravity fill. Sorry

SharpPI · 11-09-2016, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob dirt

Dumb question...are you sure you're using the correct connection? The one for the tank (dry camping) is gravity fed and the "hook-up" one needs pressure.

Yes ... to fill the fresh water tank I have to put the nozzle on the end of the hose so the pressure will force the water into the tank.

bob dirt · 11-09-2016, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SharpPI

Yes ... to fill the fresh water tank I have to put the nozzle on the end of the hose so the pressure will force the water into the tank.

After 5 RV's, I have never had to do that. I just stick the hose in the hole and turn the water on until fills up and runs back out. If I turn the water on too high, it will look like it's overflowing. We must have different set ups

bob dirt · 11-09-2016, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gidyupgo

Ran into the "water coming back up the pipe during fill" problem. Wrote ours up as difficult to fill for a warranty visit. Dealer signed off as normal. I ended up making an adapter with a 3ft piece of hose with a female connector that I connected to the fill hose and pushed deep into the fill port to get it to work. Never tried to gravity fill. Sorry

Gravity is when water flows downhill and doesn't need to be forced. Kinda sounds like you're already using it

Gidyupgo · 11-10-2016, 11:01 AM

No Bob, I am pretty sure that the hose connected to city water has pressure on it vs the OP, pouring from a jug. But thanks for playing!

bob dirt · 11-10-2016, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gidyupgo

No Bob, I am pretty sure that the hose connected to city water has pressure on it vs the OP, pouring from a jug. But thanks for playing!

Reading his first post still sounds like he is using the wrong hole because you don't need pressure to fill the tank. I dry camp a lot and just use my 7 gallon containers to just pour it in...no pressure needed

firsthere · 11-10-2016, 12:03 PM

We have a 21' Grey Wolf that worked fine until a leak developed in the fill tube about 4' in from the fill port. The dealer replaced that section and now it takes a 1 hr trickle to fill the 45g tank. I can tell there is water in the vent line by blowing into the vent port. That helps clear it but it clogs again. So far I haven't figured out how to reroute the line being its so confined in other piping as it runs through the frame.

The tech that worked on it said FR should have put the fill and vent directly above the tank inlets not 10' back near the other service entrances.

bob dirt · 11-10-2016, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WolfWhistle

Many newer RVs require pressure to fill the FW tank, like mine. Pouring in, via gravity and funnel will not work, if you could, it would take a very, very long time. The simple way, if you can call it that, is to get a 12vdc pump and hoses to pull from a tank / source and pump into the FW fill connection. Is the OPs FW tank fill like mine? Only he can answer that.
WW

Wow that sucks. Mine is a 2016. I'm glad I can pour it directly into the tank because it is small and won't last long especially if grand kids come.

WolfWhistle · 11-10-2016, 12:15 PM

Many newer RVs require pressure to fill the FW tank. No way to pour it in, not in a timely manner, or if at all.
WW

dmlranhc · 11-10-2016, 02:16 PM

My 2017 Heritage Glen only fills with fresh water to the tank by a pressurized hose. So I cannot fill with any gravity water container. So I purchased a hand pump at my RV dealer to pump water into the tank when pressurized water is not available. Got to admit I liked the gravity fill of previous trailer better. As tank is filled a hose hanging from under the trailer dispenses the air from the tank and when full water runs out that hose.

AzIrby · 11-10-2016, 03:11 PM

Wow! this story is way too familiar to me. Forest River made a major mistake in putting the water fill port way too low to have any convenience in filling the water tank. I have a 2014 3011DS and spent hours trying to find way to fit the fill hose from the fill port to the tank in order for the water to flow into the tank instead of spitting back out on me. It only has about an inch drop to the tank for that 3foot hose to carry the water. I still had to make a special hose with shut off valve to connect with the water hose with normal water pressure. That special fitting must be pushed in 18'' or so around the first curve in order for it to work. I haven't yet tried the 5-7 gallon jug to gravity feed the water tank. Forest River designer/builders should personally apologize to every 3011DS owner.

Boots49 · 11-10-2016, 05:13 PM

I bought a 10 foot piece of the white hose and cut about 3 feet from the female end. I shoved as much as I could into the fresh water tank, being careful not to rip or gouge their crinkeled hose, then I connected this to the regular white hose and turned the water on, you could hear the air coming out of the over flow hose. This should work the same for you, but you may have to use a funnel to pour the water down. I used the blue 5 gallon container with a PVC threaded connecter and a piece of hose, it worker great.

pmsherman · 11-10-2016, 10:26 PM

I had to fill my Georgetown fresh water tank from five gallon buckets at a park where it wasn't legal to run a hose from a hydrant to the fill port. My solution was to use a faucet to hose adapter at a sink and run the hose from the faucet to the fresh water fill port. I changed the water system over to winterize and used the pump to suck water from the jug, through the plumbing system, the sink, then into the fresh water tank.

A better long term solution is to install a crossover with shutoff valve from the pump output to the feed line from the water tank. Set your system to winterize, open the new valve and you can use the pump to easily fill the fresh water tank.

Phil

markb422 · 11-10-2016, 11:10 PM

Last tt we had the fresh water fill was typical gravity fill. Problem was the fill hose just inside the wall went up before it went down to the tank. My fix was to attach a 2 foot hose to what ever I was using to fill (hose or jug) shoved inside the fill tube so it got in past the upward sloping part of the fill tube. When the water exited the attached hose it was heading in the right direction, down.

SharpPI · 11-10-2016, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob dirt

Reading his first post still sounds like he is using the wrong hole because you don't need pressure to fill the tank. I dry camp a lot and just use my 7 gallon containers to just pour it in...no pressure needed

Thats why I was asking the question ... because the water does not go in very easily.

SharpPI · 11-10-2016, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AzIrby

Wow! this story is way too familiar to me. Forest River made a major mistake in putting the water fill port way too low to have any convenience in filling the water tank. I have a 2014 3011DS and spent hours trying to find way to fit the fill hose from the fill port to the tank in order for the water to flow into the tank instead of spitting back out on me. It only has about an inch drop to the tank for that 3foot hose to carry the water. I still had to make a special hose with shut off valve to connect with the water hose with normal water pressure. That special fitting must be pushed in 18'' or so around the first curve in order for it to work. I haven't yet tried the 5-7 gallon jug to gravity feed the water tank. Forest River designer/builders should personally apologize to every 3011DS owner.

Sounds like the issue I am having

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